HANNOTIITTOHVER

TOHVER, HANNO TIIT Passed away on the afternoon of December 26, 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama. Tiit was a Canadian citizen born in Tartu, Estonia on December 18, 1935 to the late Erika, a high school teacher (nee Israel, 1903-1979), and Jaan Tohver, an agronomist, (1904-1974) of Estonia. During WWII, Tiit and his parents were forced to leave Estonia and move temporarily to Poland and from there to Allied-occupied Germany. While residing in a Displaced Persons camp near Hannover, Germany, Tiit attended two years of a school organized by his mother for refugee children. After emigrating to Canada in 1948, Tiit and his parents eventually settled in St. Catherines, Ontario. Tiit graduated from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario with a Sc.B. in Engineering and M.Sc. in Physics (Engineering) in 1960. He continued his studies at Purdue University, Indiana, where he met his future wife Ocilia Kummel, from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Tiit and Ocilia were married in 1965 and moved to Birmingham, Alabama upon the completion of his Ph.D. in 1969. Tiit became a Professor of Physics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, serving as a graduate advisor to several M.Sc. and Ph.D. students and teaching Physics to countless undergraduate students until his retirement in 1999. Tiit was recognized as a witty and devoted lecturer, and he took great pride in his role as an educator and scientist. Tiit was the father of three children, Valeria (1970-), Eric (1973-) and Marisa (1976-). He was an animated storyteller, avid canoeist and outdoorsman, and car enthusiast, among other passions. In view of Tiit's lifelong devotion to education, Ocilia and the children request that donations be made to the Undergraduate Research Funds for Student Support at UAB or the local National Public Radio station WBHM in lieu of flowers or memorial gifts. A funeral mass will be held at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church on Wednesday, January 2nd at 10 a.m.